My article queue has gotten so backed up with half-finished projects that I really have to clear some of the less-timely ideas out of the drawer. What better method to do this than by using them as Shootaround intros? I had started a piece on 'Five Races to Watch' for the final third of the season to go up after the All-Star break, but the week was dominated by furious trade deadline dealings. In the meantime, the schedule has advanced from two-thirds to 72 percent complete. The New Orleans-Memphis game on Friday will be Game No. 920 on the season and will leave us with just one-quarter of the regular-season to play. Where did the weeks go? Anyway, for this week, I'm going to focus my attention on five key races for the stretch run, because the real story of this season has yet to be told.

1. Top Seed in the East.
After Sunday's Miami loss, the Bulls are now tied in the loss column with the Heat, two games back of the Celtics. Tonight, Boston plays at Utah, which is struggling but is always tough at home. Chicago plays lowly Washington on the road so by this time tomorrow, the top three teams in the conference could be separated by a single game in the loss column.

The Bulls' 26-4 home record in the league's second-best, but Chicago is just one game over .500 away from home, so a top seed for them would seem imperative to any real conference title hopes. Chicago has one game left at Miami (that's this Sunday) and a home game against Boston on April 7. The Bulls have already clinched the season series against Miami, but can only salvage a split with the Celtics--if they win that last encounter. Boston is 3-0 against the Heat and those two hook up once more, on April 10 at Miami. After head-to-head results, the next tiebreaker is conference record. In that category, the Celtics have a three-game lead in the loss column against both Miami and Chicago.

In terms of remaining strength of opposition, just three teams have an easier road than the Bulls, and none of them are the Celtics or Heat. In fact, Miami has the fifth-hardest finishing slate. Looking at NBAPET future game projections, Boston and Chicago are underdogs in just three of their final 25 games. Despite the tougher schedule, Miami is favored in 21 of its last 22 games. However, as we've seen, the Heat's power indicators are somewhat misleading because of how much it has dominated lesser opponents. Against the league's elite, the Heat have struggled. So there are a lot of factors in play here and no clear-cut cut favorite down the stretch in terms of schedule or tie-breaking scenarios. It's going to be interesting.

Transaction Analysis: Deron Williams Stunner (by Kevin Pelton): It was a busy deadline eve, headlined by Deron Williams unexpectedly going from Utah to New Jersey. Transaction Analysis breaks down who made out well and who made questionable moves. (premium)

Poll Position: Florida's Back (by John Gasaway): Since winning their second consecutive national championship in 2007, the Gators have gone 0-1 in NCAA tournament play. But in his feature for ESPN Insider John says this is Billy Donovan's best team since the days of Horford, Noah, and Brewer. (premium)

Around the Rim: Mountain West Showdown (by John Perrotto): When BYU and San Diego State meet Saturday on national TV, the eyes of the country will be on the battle between top-10 teams. (premium)

By the Numbers: Rating Trade Value (by Kevin Pelton): Bill Simmons' annual trade value column ranks the league's best assets. What happens when we try to do the same thing using only the numbers? (premium)

Basketball Prospectus authors take your questions from time to time in always-popular chat format. All chats begin at 1 p.m. EST on the day listed (unless noted), but you can go in and submit a question beforehand if you like, or read the transcript after the fact.

BOBCATS 110, KINGS 98 (box): This was the first game the Bobcats rolled out their new configuration, with Stephen Jackson moving to small forward in the spot vacated by the traded Gerald Wallace and Gerald Henderson Jr. moving in the lineup at shooting guard--Henderson's stock has soared since Paul Silas took over as Charlotte's coach though his per-minute numbers aren't much different than they were in the bit role he played under Larry Brown.

JAZZ 95, PACERS 84 (box): The Jazz won for the first time in five games since head coach Tyron Corbin took over for Jerry Sloan; this was the Utah debut for Devin Harris and Derrick Favors, who both came off the bench.

76ERS 110, PISTONS 94 (box): The Pistons were limited to six players after half the team missed a shootaround Friday morning in what may or may not have been a "team protest" aimed at head coach John Kuester.

SUNS 110, RAPTORS 92 (box): Oftentimes, perceived improvement in a player is simply a matter of more court time, but that's not the case with Marcin Gortat, who has increased all of his key metrics--points per 40 minutes (10.1 to 16.8), rebounds per 40 (11.9 to 12.5), usage rate (.115 to .172) and True Shooting Percentage (.562 to .608)--since being traded from Orlando to Phoenix.

CAVALIERS 115, KNICKS 109 (box): When Carmelo Anthony critics decries his lack of efficiency and defense, this is what they had in mind; for what his defenders were thinking, jump ahead to New York's game Sunday at Miami.

HEAT 121, WIZARDS 113 (box): Dwyane Wade's 42-point outing on 18-of-27 shooting would have produced a monstrous GR score if not for the hit the total takes for his responsibility for Nick Young's 38 points on 12-of-19 shooting; the opposite could be said about Young.

TRAIL BLAZERS 107, NUGGETS 106, OT (box): Back from knee surgery, Brandon Roy scored 18 points off the bench and hit two of a trio of Portland treys in the final minute of regulation (Rudy Fernandez had the other) to lift the Blazers and Danilo Gallinari and Arron Afflalo missed threes in the final seconds of overtime for Denver.

PISTONS 120, JAZZ 116 (box): With several key players still sitting the day after a team mutiny, Detroit survived Utah's 59.5 percent shooting performance thanks to an 18-10 edge in second-chance points and a 22-15 advantage in points off turnovers--categories that suggest that the Pistons gave a good effort for embattled coach John Kuester.

GRIZZLIES 120, KINGS 92 (box): Memphis' three primary frontcourt players--Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur--combined for 61 points on 27-of-38 shooting as the Grizzlies matched their high-water mark of last season by going six games over .500.

ROCKETS 123, NETS 108 (box): In a vintage Kevin Martin box score line, the efficient scoring guard put up 30 points on 15 shots while teammate Chuck Hayes had seven assists in a game for the second time in a little over a month, one shy of his career high.

SUNS 110, PACERS 108, OT (box): Ageless wonder Grant Hill scored 34 points and Channing Frye hit a game-winning 22-footer at the buzzer of overtime for the streaking Suns, who have won three straight and moved within a game of Memphis for eighth-place in the West.

76ERS 95, CAVALIERS 91 (box): Jodie Meeks snapped out of a recent slump with 14 points while helping hold counterpart Anthony Parker to 1-of-8 shooting as the Sixers moved over .500 for the first time this season.

TIMBERWOLVES 126, WARRIORS 123 (box): Kevin Love had 37 points, 23 rebounds and shot 18-of-23 from the line and T-Wolves rookie Wesley Johnson had a block and a steal on Golden State's final two possessions to help Minnesota snap a seven-game losing streak.

MAVERICKS 114, RAPTORS 96 (box): The Mavericks broke open a close game by shooting 75 percent (15-of-20) in the fourth quarter, enjoyed a 64-25 edge in bench points and won for the 16th time in 17 games.

SPURS 95, GRIZZLIES 88 (box): The Spurs tied a franchise record with its 21st straight home win and are one victory away from tying the league record for most consecutive 50-win seasons, a mark set by the Lakers from 1979-80 to 1990-91.

KNICKS 91, HEAT 86 (box): Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points, Amar'e Stoudemire had a key block of a late LeBron James layup attempt and the Knicks hit five three-pointers during a 29-17 second quarter as New York won for the fourth time in five games.

HAWKS 90, TRAIL BLAZERS 83 (box): Jamal Crawford scored 23 points off the Atlanta bench and the Hawks held their opponent under a point per possession for the second straight game, just the second time this season they've done that; they haven't done it in three straight games.

Confiremed deadline deals and other minutiae from press releases around the league

BUCKS: The Milwaukee Bucks have recalled rookie forward Larry Sanders from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Indiana) of the NBA Development League (D-League), General Manager John Hammond announced today. In two games for the Mad Ants, Sanders averaged 10.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots in 27.5 minutes per contest. Sanders was initially assigned to Fort Wayne on February 20.

NETS: The New Jersey Nets have signed free agent guard Sundiata Gaines to a 10-day contract, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. The 24-year old from University of Georgia has appeared in six games with Toronto and eight games with Minnesota this season. In his 14 appearances, Gaines averaged 4.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.2 assists in 11.0 minutes per contest.

ROCKETS: Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has waived forward Jared Jeffries. Jeffries was acquired via trade on 2/18/10 and played in a total of 36 games (no starts) for the Rockets. He finishes his Rockets career with averages of 3.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. The Rockets roster now stands at 14.

WARRIORS: The Golden State Warriors have signed forward Jeff Adrien to a contract, the team announced today. Adrien is being called up from the NBA Development League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Adrien, 25, began the season with Golden State and appeared in 15 games for the Warriors, averaging 2.9 points and 3.3 ebounds in 10.8 minutes per contest. He was waived on December 9, 2010, and joined the D-League's Erie BayHawks for five games before being traded to Rio Grande Valley. Overall in the D-League this season, Adrien has appeared in 26 games, averaging 18.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.04 steals and 1.47 blocks in 32.5 minutes per contest. He currently leads the D-League in rebounding and ranks eighth in scoring, having posted a league-leading 20 double-doubles in 26 games.

GLOSSARY+/- (Plus-Minus) Raw data is from official box scores from NBA.com.GR (Game Rating) Reflects a player's Points Created total, or the portion of his team's offense for which he gets credit based on his box score line. This number is then adjusted for estimated defensive performance based on box score counterpart productivity. GR is pace-adjusted so you can compare players from game to game.PCP (Points Created Per Possession Used) An estimate of each player's points created per possession used, a measure of offensive efficiency. The stat accounts for a player's entire box score line, not just the scoring categories.PLY% (Play percentage) An estimate of the percentage of a team's possessions on which the player was on the court.USG An estimate of how many of those plays a player used by shooting, going to the line or committing a turnover, with a portion the team's offensive rebound total subtracted.TEAM STATS
PACE: Estimated possessions in the game.
ORTG: A team's points per 100 possessions.
eFG%: Team's shooting percentage with an extra half-point added for each made three-point field goal.
oRB%: Percentage of a team's misses that they retrieved off the offensive glass.
TO%: Percentage of a team's possessions resulting in a turnover.
FTA%: Percentage of a team's possessions resulting in a trip to the foul line.